Getting So Big!

At Dane's 6 month appointment he weighed 19 lbs. We knew it would just be a matter of time until he outgrew his infant seat, which had a weight limit of 22 lbs. We have had the convertible carseat since mid-December. The carseat sat in the basement in the box just waiting to be used.

I was holding on to the infant seat for a couple of reasons.

• My little guy still had a couple of pounds until he reached the weight limit and why rush it, he is still a baby.
• The infant seat has this great fleece lined cover that stretches over the entire seat. It has a little hole for his head with a little cover that you can open up when in the car and just flip down real quick when you get out. It kept my little guy so warm.
• Dane almost always falls asleep on the way home from daycare. Dave usually meets me in the garage and carries the seat upstairs where Dane will sleep for a bit longer.
• I loved being able to have Dane in the infant seat when I went shopping or we went to dinner. It was so easy to just plop the infant seat onto the cart at stores and put it in the booth next to us at dinner. He could easily eat in it and drink his bottle while we ate.

Well lately when I would go to put Dane in the carseat he would try to sit up which made it very difficult to get him buckled in. He would also grab the handle with his hands and try to pull himself up. When I would put his little cover on I could see his feet poking the bottom of it, just trying to come out. Then my hip started hurting. I noticed a trend....a couple of snow days when we stayed home and no pain, Dave's days off when I didn't have to carry him into daycare and no pain, Monday and Tuesday when I carried the infant seat with Dane in it out to the car and into and out of daycare....major hip pain.

So I knew it was time.....I was still sad when Dave told me to come to the garage and see the new carseat he had put in my car.

I have to say he looks quite comfy.....but so big.

On Friday it was a new experience for us both as we headed to daycare. I usually can carry my purse, school bag, and his bottle bag on one arm and his infantseat in my other hand. Since I had to carry him, which I really needed two hands for, I made one trip to the car with all of our belongings. I came back and got him out of the exersaucer, found a jacket for him (which we never needed because he always had his cozy cover, and carried him to the car. I think I might have accidentally bumped his head on the ceiling of the car putting him in. He seemed to love it. He was looking all over the place. I guess he can see quite a bit more.

I will say that when Miss Sue met me at the door I think we both almost cried he looked so big being carried into daycare for the first time.

Happy Birthday Claire!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY CLAIRE!

My sister's little girl, Claire, turned 1 on February 15th. Saturday we headed to St. Louis for her "Cupcake" birthday party. There were lots of kids and lots of family there to celebrate. We had a delicious lunch, then the kids decorated cupcakes.

The Birthday Girl

A dress to match the theme of the party
She loved her cake!

Hanging out with Mama and Great Grandma before the party got started.

Dane was so excited to get a cupcake.

Aunt Tammy feed Dane his first cupcake! He loved it!

He kept wanting more!

Dane is giving a hug to the birthday girl!

Great Grandma and Dane

Trey is always wanting to hug Dane. Dane has just started to give hugs back, which Trey loves!

Uncle TJ and Dane hanging out at the party

The party wore out Dave and Trey. They took a nap at my mom and dad's after dinner.

Dane is 7 Months Today!

I can't believe Dane is 7 months old already! He is getting so big!

• Unofficially he is weighing about 20 lbs.
• Wearing size 3 diapers
• Wearing 6-9 month clothes
• Eating oatmeal with fruit or cereal with fruit for breakfast, fruit for lunch, and a meat mixed with veggies and fruit for dinner. Plus still taking 6 oz of formula 4 times a day.
• Uses his sippy cup, but still prefers his bottle
• Holds his bottle so well
• Sleeping from about 7:15 p.m. until about 6:30 a.m.-usually sleeping through the night, though occasionally needing mommy or daddy to come comfort him.
• Started rolling from back to tummy in the middle of the night and sometimes sleeping on his side. He likes to sleep with his face buried in the mattress, I don't like this so much.
• Celebrated his first Valentines Day
• Gave mommy her first "Happy Birthday Mommy" card
• Had a very mild case of RSV
• Enjoyed several snow days with mommy (Though, as much as we enjoyed them we are ready for warmer weather)
• We can see the very tip of the first tooth coming in
• Enjoyed his cousin Claire's First Birthday party
• Moving to a bigger carseat anyday now....my hip is killing me.
• Hair is starting to grow
• Started to wave and will sometimes give fives.

Looks like such a big boy when he sits up

Can spin in a circle on his belly, but not crawling yet!

Chews on anything!

Loves his cousin Delaney and loves to watch her play her Nintendo DS

Rode in his umbrella stroller for the first time

Has sooo many toys. He is so happy when he plays. He laughs and talks the whole time.

Loves to play with his feet

Loves to play in his exersaucer. He looks so serious reading the little book. He is so big there is no more swing. He will sit in his bouncy seat while I get ready in the morning, but it won't be much longer until we have to put that away.

I pull out all of these toys every afternoon after work and usually at some point he finds the empty basket more interesting.

Before we go to take a bath I always tell him, "Ok, time to pick up our toys and put them away." I pick them all up, talking to him the whole time about pulling his toys away and he usually just gives me a big smile like, "Sure, whatever mom."

Loves to spend two days a week with Daddy! (Especially on this day when Daddy let him stay in his PJs ALL DAY!!) When mommy asked why he was still in PJs Daddy said, "We didn't go anywhere and just wanted to be comfy."

We can't believe how fast the time is going. He is getting so big and we are having so much fun! We love you Dane!

My Silly Little Man

I love listening to Dane wake up. He rarely cries. He will laugh and coo in his bed for a good 15-20 minutes after he awakes up. When I go in to get him I turn on his little lamp on his dresser and call out, "Good Morning Dane." It is funny because when I get to his crib his eyes will be closed while he adjusts to the light and he will have his arms held out for me.

When I went in to get the silly little guy this morning this is what I saw....

one little foot had somehow found its way out of the sleeper.

When I said to him, "How did that little foot get out?",

he held it up in the air as if he was showing me. What a cutie!

***It did just so happen that I was snapping some pictures of the little guy before bed last night and left the camera in his room. I don't usually greet him with a big flash every morning. Good thing I had it with me this morning though.

Valentine's Day

Dane celebrated his first Valentine's Day at daycare by taking some treats and Valentines for his friends. He came home with quite a few Valentines and treats as well. Dave was quite excited to pick out Dane's Valentines. He found some Car Valentines that came with pencils.
Saturday morning we headed to St. Louis to celebrate Valentines Day with family at my parent's house. My mom had the house all decked out in Valentine's Day decorations. She even put a chocolate heart at each place setting.

The kids were very excited about having a candle lit at their table.

In just a couple of years they will have more little ones to sit with!

Dane ate before we did, but he sat with us at the table anyway.

Mommy and Dane

Claire giving hugs to Dane!

Getting ready to open Valentines

Dane had on a Valentine shirt passed down from Trey.

Trey loves to see Dane in his old clothes.

The Frost kids all dressed in their Valentine's Day colors!

Hanging out with Aunt Katie and Aunt Amy

Opening Dane's Valentines

Playing with his Valentine Bear

Wanting to move so bad!

Trey with "My Baby Dane" as he calls him

Today we are spending Valentine's Day at home. It is cold and snowy out so Dave is making dinner for us and we are going to stay in and stay warm.

Dane has had a good time playing with this Leapfrog Frog.

This little frog used to be Trey's and Aunt Amy found it the other day and thought it would be perfect for Dane. It has lights and makes noise! That is exactly what Dane loves!

Wow! What a Difference!

Every evening when I got the no school call I would say to myself, "Well I didn't get much done today, but tomorrow I plan to get a lot done." It never happened.

I did get one tiny task done. I have been wanting to get black and white prints of Dane framed and put in my bathroom. I spent about 10 minutes pulling all of his bathroom shots and putting them in one folder on my computer so I could pick the ones I wanted. When I went to look at all of them I was shocked by the changes. Dave and I laughed a bit when we looked at them.

First Bath August 8, 2009

Looking at mommy after his bath

Goodbye baby bathtub! Sitting in the tub, February 2010
Hanging out with mommy after his bath! These infant towels have their days numbered!

Snow Days!

It snowed on and off Monday evening and I just couldn't decide if it looked like we would have school or not. About 9:00 Monday evening the phone rang with the Alert Call from school saying that there was no school on Tuesday. Of course I had just finished ironing clothes for Dane and I and making bottles for the babysitter.

Vicki, my friend down the street, took the day off on Tuesday because the roads were a little rough. Dane and I were able to get out and head to play for the day. I love going to play with Tyler and Aiden because Dane is so fascinated by them. He loves to watch them play. He also gets to play with a whole new set of toys. I always come home with ideas of new toys he needs.

I think I may have to find this toy. It has music and lights, which Dane absolutely loves.

Vicki loved it that Dane actually left the hat on his head. She said her boys throw it off whenever she puts it on them.

We enjoyed the day playing with our friends. It is so nice to have them right down the street.

Not long after we got home we got the call that there was no school on Wednesday. I always love a couple of snow days and there is nothing else like the phone ringing and hearing that message. Dane and I usually snuggle together for naps and stay in comfy clothes all day. However, I have to say, I am just about done with snow days for this year. I am starting to get the itch for warm weather and summer fun. Right now we still get out before Memorial Day. Now I am ready to get moving with the rest of the year and get it finished.

Getting Out of the House

It was nice to spend Friday at home since both Dane and I weren't feeling the best. Saturday we were both feeling better, especially after our afternoon nap. I was watching TV and heard talk about an early week snow. Snow meant that Ste. Gen Schools would possibly be closed. After hearing the weather forecast it sounded like I may be snowed in Monday and Tuesday. I thought I needed to get out of the house a bit. Sunday we decided to head to Mama and Papa's house to spend the day. We left early in the morning and had a great day hanging out. I ran to Target to grab some baby food, but besides that we stayed at Mama and Papa's playing.

Aunt Katie spent some time with us in the afternoon. She feed Dane his dinner before she had to head to meet Tom for a Superbowl party.

She did find it a bit difficult to feed him when he shoves his bib in his mouth.


Dane LOVES Molly. He will hold out his hand and try to pet her whenever she walks by him. Molly is a very, very gentle dog and she loves attention.

We had snacks and ordered pizza while we watched the Superbowl. Dane hung out on Daddy's lap with his sippy cup. I don't think he liked the halftime show because as soon as it came on he was ready for a bottle and bed.